How Does Microsoft’s Latest Browser Internet Explorer 8 Rate?Most Give It a Thumbs Up The latest version of Microsoft’s web browser, Internet Explorer 8 (IE8), has been released and the general consensus is that most people like the new features, although there is some grumbling.

Compared to IE7, this new version offers some handy features to simplify the web experience. These features include:Improved Tabs – When you open a new tab from a page you are viewing, IE8 places the tabs together and color codes them to form a group so you can quickly find related pages.Increased Reliability – If you open a page that is damaged or corrupted, IE8 only closes the affected tab rather than the entire browser.Enhanced Security – IE8 includes new security features such as cross-scripting filters and anti-phishing functions that block known phishing sites as well as show you a web page’s main domain so you can feel confident you are on a legitimate site.Accelerators – You can deliver information from another website directly to the current page you are on with a single click, such as highlighting an address then calling up a map to show the location without leaving the current page.Web Slices – These deliver information to IE8 from a web page you are not currently visiting, letting you monitor things like stock prices without navigating to the financial page.Private Browsing – In this mode, IE8 will automatically delete all cookies, passwords, temporary files, and history when you close the browser.Compatibility View – Pages designed for older browser versions may not display properly on IE8, but it can automatically switch to a compatibility mode that will correct the problem.

Most reviewers like the additions and enhancements that streamline the viewing experience and are now favorably comparing IE8 to its competitor Firefox. Still, there are some detractors. Users are reporting that IE8 can be a memory hog with its linked tabs and that it seems slower in operation than IE7. For most, however, the enhanced features and improved Internet experience make IE8 a worthwhile upgrade.

If You Delete a File By Mistake, Now You Can Get it BackUndelete-Plus 3.0 Now Available

No matter how careful we are, we all make mistakes. Fortunately, when we mistakenly delete files from our computer there are ways to recover them. We can “undo” the delete.

When a computer, camera or a similar hardware device deletes a file it doesn’t actually remove the information. Deleting a file simply marks the space where it was stored as empty and available. Until that space is needed again, nothing happens to the data. This is a bit like leaving something in your hotel room when you check out. It stays right there until someone comes in and disposes of it.

So if you delete a file by mistake, chances are you’ll be able to get it back. You just need software to search the “empty” spaces to find and retrieve it. That’s the job of UndeletePlus – Phoenix Technologies’ file recovery software that works with PCs, flash drives, digital cameras, and other products that store data. Simply scan for deleted files, select those you want back, and click a button to restore the information or image you thought was lost forever.

Of course, not all files can be recovered all of the time. If housekeeping has already cleaned your hotel room, you probably can’t retrieve that left behind item. Computers are designed to reuse the space that deleted files occupied. As a result, deleted files can be permanently damaged or destroyed.

Fortunately, most computers have lots of space available for saving data, so there’s a good chance that your recently deleted file will be retrievable. The longer a file has been deleted, the less likely you’ll be able to recover it. UndeletePlus will inform you of the chances for recovering the file you want to retrieve.

UndeletePlus helps you find the deleted file you want to restore by allowing you to:

Sort the results by name, size, recovery status, and original location.

Preview the file’s contents – text or image as appropriate – so you can be sure you recover the one you want.

Recover multiple files simultaneously so you don’t have to pick just one.

Recover files and save to a different drive or partition so that restoring the files doesn’t damage anything on the original drive, not even other unrecovered files.

Mistakes don’t have to be irreversible, especially computer ones. For accidental file deletion, UndeletePlus lets you undo the error. Try UndeletePlus now at www.undeleteplus.com.

If Your PC is Running Slow, Run a Scan Using Up-to-Date Anti-Virus Software

If Your PC is Running Slow, Run a Scan Using Up-to-Date Anti-Virus SoftwareIf your PC begins behaving sluggishly or programs start inexplicably failing, or you see items in your email “Sent” folder you didn’t send, it’s very likely that your computer has a virus.

Most computer viruses are multi-headed monsters that can embed themselves deep within your PC in ways that are very difficult to remove. If you think you have a virus, the first step is to do a full system scan using an anti-virus software like McAfee Internet Security. In addition, you should take the following precautions:

Immediately disconnect your PC from the Internet or Intranet by unplugging the network cable. This will prevent the virus from using your computer to steal your private information or infect other computers.

Back up your documents, pictures, and other personal data to a CD or DVD. Do not back up applications because they may also have been infected by the virus. A regular backup of your important data files should be part of your normal routine to avoid any data loss.

When using an anti-virus program, be sure you have the most recent version of the software to get the best chance for eradicating the virus.

Reboot your computer after running the anti-virus software and scan it again to detect any lingering viruses.

If the anti-virus software is unable to remove the virus or the problem returns, you may need to reformat the hard disk and reinstall the operating system and applications from the original disks.

Most people get viruses because they are not running up-to-date anti-virus software. The best way to prevent problems in the future is to update your anti-virus software annually and to set the program to automatically download new definitions as they become available.

How to Stop Programs from Launching Automatically When You Boot Up Whenever you boot up your PC, do you have a program that automatically launches? Do you want to stop it from doing that but haven’t figured out how? Most good programs will have options that determine how they behave when Windows starts up on an options or settings page. Other programs may not give you the option to disable them.

In most cases, you can find the annoying program being started under one of the keys in the registry. To change it, follow the instructions below.

NOTE: We recommend always backing up the registry before making any changes.Run the program RegEdit. You can sometimes find this under the Start menu, or you can launch it by choosing the Run command, typing in RegEdit and hitting the key.

Choose the Find command under the Edit menu, and locate the following keys in the registry: